Theory to practice: HIV/AIDS policies in operation within British retailing

Despite recent scientific advancements, Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) remains a serious health issue for those involved in employee management. The introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) has meant that increased numbers of HIV/AIDS infected workers are able to remain in employment, fully protected by this legislation. Because of the nature and characteristics of retail employment, it is suggested that retailers have an increased likelihood of encountering employees and/or customers with the disease, compared with most other industries. This paper examines one particular aspect of the challenge facing retailers, notably that of the ‘operationalization’ of their HIV/AIDS policies into practices, especially in terms of company selection rocesses, education and training, employee relations and employee assistance programmes. Data were collected from a number of leading retail companies, ¹ from which, important observations can be made with regard to retailers' attitudes towards employee welfare in general, and in relation to HIV/AIDS in particular. The research results indicate potential discrimination in terms of employee selection involving a significant number of major retailers, and little comprehensive education/training on HIV/AIDS occurring, despite evidence of disruptive behaviour by staff. In addition, the findings provide evidence that even major companies find it difficult to balance issues of employee welfare against the financial concerns of the organization, in terms of assisting affected employees.     

Eco-tourism and luxury – the case of Al Maha,Dubai

This paper examines the issues raised by Al Maha in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a 27 km² resort within the 225 km² Dubai Desert Conservation Zone that offers luxurious accommodation in 40 suites, each with its own swimming pool. Its appeal is based on luxury, but it also offers insights into desert culture, heritage and the fauna and flora of the Arabian Desert. Much of that desert has become severely degraded by 200 years of camel grazing. Al Maha claims eco-tourism status through its desert regeneration programme. Is eco-tourism compatible with luxury? Given an official Emirati ecological perspective of desert greening, is desert reclamation consistent with wider UAE greening policies? Does ecologically motivated reclamation based on revenue from luxury-based tourism condone ecologically unaware tourist behavior?     

The ethics of corporate governance in public sector organizations

The current climate of increased accountability in public sector organizations has brought to public attention the ethical dimension of corporate governance. This article presents a conceptually informed method for undertaking of an ethically focused audit corporate governance. The conceptual-theoretical terrain is set out in three dimensions: ethics as applied moral philosophy; equity as social justice; and corporate governance as the moral health of an organization. At an operational level, the conceptual model proposed provides a framework to evaluate the overall integrity of an organization and embraces the inter-related themes of individual responsibility, social equity and political responsibility. A method for ethical audits is also set out. It emphasizes the significance of key personnel in (re)producing and challenging the organizational ethos, while recognizing the necessary limitations placed on researchers' commitment to anonymity and confidentiality in the collection, interpretation and analysis of data, and in the eventual sharing of such data.     

Sport and South Asian youth: the perils of ‘false universalism’ and stereotyping

Studies of the sport-ethnicity relation have tended to neglect young South Asians in Britain and although there has recently been an increasing interest in the role of sport in South Asian lifestyles, the significance and function of sport in South Asian cultures remains confused and ill-informed. This paper offers a critical reflection on some of the important studies that have informed this under-researched area of leisure studies, and considers two key themes. First, that the failure to fully acknowledge South Asian heterogeneity — a failure manifest as ‘false universalism’ — operates at three different levels: collective treatment of all minority groups; mistaken assumptions about all South Asians; and a misunderstanding about the full complexity of South Asian heterogeneity. Second, that false universalism leads to the sort of crude stereotypes about the sporting aptitude and preferences of young South Asians that are generally prevalent, and can also become internalized by South Asians themselves.     

The quality of market volatility forecasts implied by S&P 100 index option prices

This study examines the performance of the S&P 100 implied volatility as a forecast of future stock market volatility. The results indicate that the implied volatility is an upward biased forecast, but also that it contains relevant information regarding future volatility. The implied volatility dominates the historical volatility rate in terms of ex ante forecasting power, and its forecast error is orthogonal to parameters frequently linked to conditional volatility, including those employed in various ARCH specifications. These findings suggest that a linear model which corrects for the implied volatility's bias can provide a useful market-based estimator of conditional volatility.     

Nursing case management: affecting quality and cost

North Mississippi Health Services' nursing case management program has been deemed a success by all parties involved, especially the patients. High-risk patients with specific chronic health problems receive an enhanced level of care and experience significant reductions in cost, length of stay, and repeat hospitalizations. Quality of life for many of these patients is also improved. These outcomes are made possible by assigning a registered nurse to case manage or coordinate care for these patients.     

An Exploratory Study of Chinese Accounting Students’ and Auditors’ Audit-specific Ethical Reasoning

This study uses three audit-specific ethical dilemmas to assess the level of ethical reasoning between Chinese accounting students (as proxies for new entrants to the auditing profession) and experienced auditors. A sample of U.S. accounting students is used as a base for comparison. Consistent with expectations based on particularly salient aspects of Chinese national culture, we find the Chinese students’ levels of ethical reasoning to be significantly lower than those of their U.S. counterparts in the two cases that invoked these cultural attributes. In contrast, the Chinese students’ level of ethical reasoning is slightly higher than that of the U.S. students in the third, control case. We further find that the Chinese auditors’ levels of ethical reasoning are even lower than those of the Chinese students in two cases, while not being significantly different in the third. Together, these findings suggest that cross-national differences in auditors’ ethical reasoning depend on the nature of the ethical dilemma and caution against wholesale inferences about ethical reasoning levels in China.